Friday, 13 April 2012

A lot of butt talk has been taking place as of late in good ol' Casa d'Armitage. We pretty much figured out what we're doing for the bench area in the breakfast nook, so then we had to move on to the three or four chairs we'd need for the other side of the table. I was initially thinking I wanted to do something like this:

Some fun painted traditional chairs. I figure this would be the easiest (and funnest) way to bring some of the accent red into the kitchen. I like the one on the far right, and the second from left the best. I haven't however, been able to find any quality chairs like that anywhere. I've been searching kijiji/Goodwill for months and continually come up short. They either aren't the kind I'm looking for, or they're a whole set (with table). So I started thinking about other options. Jase and I talked, and we figured since we were being so frugal, and coming under budget with everything else we could "splurge" on the chairs. There was this chair that I saw from the beginning, that I just kept coming back to, so it went to the top of the list.

They are these chairs from West Elm. I love the shape of them, kind of retro-ish, they stack on top of each other, and they're comfy and kind of bouncy (we tested them out when we were in Chicago). But at $83 a pop, they are definitely more of a splurge for us. So I started looking for a few similar choices that are cheaper.

I came across these from here, which actually aren't cheaper at all haha, and Jason doesn't like them anyway, so I guess there out...I think I'd only want one for the end even if I did get them.

Then there's these ones, also from Target that are considerably cheaper, at about $30 a piece...but they do have to be ordered online, and that kind of sucks. I'm also not a huge fan of the rounded top, I prefer the "scoop" look, like the ones from West Elm.

The Gilbert chair from Ikea, which is one of those, kinda like it, kinda don't type thing. Plus, I don't think they even carry it anymore, so it's out too. So that still leaves the ones from West Elm that I've liked from the beginning.

Then I came across these ones:

There's no link to where they are from, or who makes them, but I love them. The simplicity of them is what strikes me the most. Plus that red one is speaking to me hehe. Jason really likes them too. And they also have a retro, yet modern vibe.

So now we're at an impasse again. We both like the last chairs the best, but have no idea on where to get them. We could probably make them, the construction of them is fairly simple, and making them would save some money; but we're already making so much, (which I like) that I was looking forward to finally purchasing something. Gaa, I hate when trying to make a decision ends up causing more questions.

Thursday, 12 April 2012

Lets preface this post with hooray, we have internet back, so I can be up dating more frequently!!!

We have been ferociously trying to cross as many things as
we can off our to do list, because it is so gratifying to physically cross
something off a list! Not to mention it helps with big projects if you break
things down into smaller, more manageable tasks. Helps to stop me from becoming a
giant crazy person, and makes Jason happy…and it really helps keep us on track.
Let’s take a look at what we’ve been able to check off at the almost four month mark:

Kitchen:

·Rip out old cabinets & sink (donate
to Habitat Re-Store) although we weren’t able to
donate anything because they were custom built-in’s.

·Bust out the closet (that was previously
the entry closet from old living room)

·Remove the built in (donate) and take
down the random 3ft wall again we weren’t really
able to donate it because the doors had to be destroyed in order for it to come
out

·Replace insulation in outside wall we took out the old (and blackened) pink insulation, and
doubled our R-rating from 7 to 15, by using the Rock-sol insulation.

·Frame up old closet & laundry room
entry

·Replace drywall on outside wallsI found my new calling in screwing the boards up!

·Add/move electrical outlets and lighting
we moved a few outlets around, and figured out what sort of lighting we want (mainly just pot lights)...in order to get all the other moving/replacing done, we've got to get cabinets up.

·Plumbing rough-ins Jase swapped out the old copper piping in the kitchen with
ABS, and also discovered that they had the washer and kitchen sink draining
tied into the same (too small) feed…which would explain the draining problems
we’d seen.

·Fix the steps into living room (extending
kitchen floor – making it just two steps)

·Template out the cabinets (and go buy
them before Jan 22) bought them on the 14th,
for almost $1,000 under budget, and got our hardware on sale, and thanks to the
“cash back”, for free.

·Take back wall to be even with pantry

·Replace windows (if can afford)

·Remove wallpaper Thanks Mer, for your help with that…it went a lot quicker with the two of us

·Get chairs for table area (we’ve decided to
splurge a bit on the chairs - )

·Make table & benches for eat-in area

Dining Room:

·Rip out carpet

·Reinsulate the two outside walls
(re-drywall) again we doubled the R-rating on two walls
here.

·Replace window (if in the budget)

·Move overhead light to middle of the room

·Paint

install decorative moulding/trim to "formalize" the room

·Refinish table and hutch to match

·Refinish, reinforce and reupholster chairs

·Make artwork and put up shelves

·Make “bar” area

·Install flooring
(Armstong “natural-antique” engineered hardwood)

Bedroom #2 (aka:
Nursery):

·Rip up carpet

·Tear down wall in closet (using the linen
closet)

·Close off linen closet from hallway

·Paint walls

·Paint ceiling

·Make and paint new doors for closet (to take up
all of that wall)

·Replace window (when able to afford)

·Lay new flooring

·Get and paint crib, & dresser for change
table

·Make bedding & other linens

·Make light fixture

Bathroom

·Take out vanity, toilet, tub

·Rip off tile

·Rip up linoleum

·Take out wall between bedroom (eliminating the
bedroom closet)

·Build vanity

·Pick out floor tile (mono flora in “white”)

·Pick out shower tile (glass subway tiles in
blues/greens)

·Take out window (that was previously in bedroom)

·Frame up new wall

·Drywall new wall

·Lay floor

·Put in new tub, toilet & vanity put in a new toilet that the wholesalers gave us cheap to
test out. It is comparable to the Cadet 3, and so far it’s been great.
Although, we did discover that the floors are WAY out, so you’re sitting on a
bit of a slant now haha

·Tile shower area

·Build storage towers

Bedroom #1:

·Tear down wall between laundry room (before
kitchen is completed, so we can close off the door from the kitchen) so far we just have a door sized opening

·Rip up carpet & linoleum stuff (from laundry
room)

·Build closet (using small laundry closet at
starting point)

·Take out window (add a second one if possible)

·Add another wall (that will be the new wall
between the bathroom)

·Paint (possibly Ben Moore – “dragonfly”)

·Install new flooring (a medium brown)

Living room:

·Remove built in & random 3ft wall

·Rip up carpet (also rip it off the stairs)

·Scrape stucco from the ceiling (and up
staircase)

·Figure out what’s going on with the messed up
bouncy plywood floor – and obviously fix it

·Properly insulate the floor & walls

·Replace windows (the larger one first)

·Build half wall to define entry space

·Paint (Benjamin Moore “old prairie” & “wythe
blue”)

·Tile entryway area (black penny rounds?)

·Lay flooring in living area (dark brown –
possibly vinyl tile?)

·Paint & reupholster “bench” for entryway

·Figure out & install hooks for coats along
with more storage

·Refinish stairs & railings

·Replace front/back doors

·Put up new trim

Master area (phase
1):

Bath:

·Take off wallpaper

·Take down tiles again, thanks Mer for the help….she was seriously a monster
when it came to taking down those tiles.

·Add forced air vents

·Remove old baseboard heaters

·Replace vanity, mirror & lighting

·Put up bead board (to cover glue from tiles)

·Paint walls (Benjamin Moore “stratton blue”

·Paint floor (either hexagonal or penny-round
style)

·Put up new trim

·Add some shelving (above toilet)

Bedroom

·Add forced air ventswe have the ducts run to the bedroom, so we have a large gaping whole at the bottom of the wall, Brad still needs to get his butt into the attic to finish running the lines haha.

·Remove old baseboard heaters

·Raise closet rods (seriously they’re like 5ft
from the ground!)

·Paint dressers

·Build or buy (cheap) my night table

·Make pendant lamp

·Paint table lamp bases & replace shades

·Paint walls (MSL “cement gray”)

·Stencil wall (MSL “anvil”)

·Replace hardware on dressers & closet doors

·Replace trim

·Take out old air-conditioner & fix window

·GET A NEW BED (which unfortunately probably
won’t happen for a while)

·Build & install floating shelf above bed

So we’ve made some progress on the house to home front, and
so far we’re coming in well under budget which makes my heart sing quite a bit,
especially since being laid off from a great paying job, and having to move to a minimum wage job money is tight, so anywhere we can save some coin is
excellent.

During those beautiful warm weeks we had in March we crossed "get rid of the crap from the front of the house" off the list, hopefully if the weather ever warms up again we can cross a few more off the outside to-do list.